Intentions to Marry, 1902 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840421, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, October 3 2025

1902 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 529

District of Napier Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar John Henn

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

17 March 1902

Joseph Beagley
Ellen Oliver

Joseph Beagley
Ellen Oliver
💍 1902/2583

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Dressmaker

29
28

Woodville, Napier
Napier

15 years
28 years

The Residence of the Bride's Mother, Lucknow Terrace, Napier

02/459

17 March 1902

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	24
Date of Notice	17 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Beagley	Ellen Oliver
	💍 1902/2583
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Dressmaker
Age	29	28
Dwelling Place	Woodville, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	15 years	28 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of the Bride's Mother, Lucknow Terrace, Napier
Folio	02/459
Consent
Date of Certificate	17 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

19 March 1902

Edwin James Sellick
Annie Beatrice Watt

Edwin James Elliott
Annie Beatrice Watt
💍 1902/2584

Bachelor
Spinster

Coach Driver

36
26

Eskdale, Petane
Napier

3 years
26 years

St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier

02/460

19 March 1902

Rev. J. A. Asher

No	25
Date of Notice	19 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edwin James Sellick	Annie Beatrice Watt
BDM Match (87%)	Edwin James Elliott	Annie Beatrice Watt
	💍 1902/2584
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Coach Driver
Age	36	26
Dwelling Place	Eskdale, Petane	Napier
Length of Residence	3 years	26 years
Marriage Place	St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Napier
Folio	02/460
Consent
Date of Certificate	19 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Asher

24 March 1902

Arthur Maxwell Mowlem
Alice Marian Beecroft

Arthur Manwell Mawlem
Alice Marion Beacroft
💍 1902/2568

Bachelor
Spinster

Solicitor
Domestic

28
25

Auckland, Napier
Napier

5 1/2 years
12 months

Wesleyan Church, Napier

02/468

24 March 1902

Rev. C. E. Beecroft

No	26
Date of Notice	24 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Arthur Maxwell Mowlem	Alice Marian Beecroft
BDM Match (91%)	Arthur Manwell Mawlem	Alice Marion Beacroft
	💍 1902/2568
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Solicitor	Domestic
Age	28	25
Dwelling Place	Auckland, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 1/2 years	12 months
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Napier
Folio	02/468
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Beecroft

24 March 1902

Alfred Jacobi
Alice Mabel Cobb

Alfred Jacobi
Alice Mabel Cobb
💍 1902/2567

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Dressmaker

31
22

Dannevirke, Napier
Napier

5 years
15 years

Wesleyan Church, Napier

02/467

24 March 1902

Rev. C. E. Beecroft

No	27
Date of Notice	24 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alfred Jacobi	Alice Mabel Cobb
	💍 1902/2567
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Dressmaker
Age	31	22
Dwelling Place	Dannevirke, Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	5 years	15 years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Church, Napier
Folio	02/467
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Beecroft

24 March 1902

Charles St. John Cunningham
Florence Amelia Charlotte Ireland

Charles St John Cunningham
Florence Amelia Charlotte Ireland
💍 1902/1262

Bachelor
Spinster

Shipping Clerk
Domestic

29
25

Napier
Napier

14 years
15 years

St. Augustine's Church, Bower Street, Napier

02/931

24 March 1902

Rev. C. L. Jullee

No	28
Date of Notice	24 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Charles St. John Cunningham	Florence Amelia Charlotte Ireland
BDM Match (98%)	Charles St John Cunningham	Florence Amelia Charlotte Ireland
	💍 1902/1262
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shipping Clerk	Domestic
Age	29	25
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	14 years	15 years
Marriage Place	St. Augustine's Church, Bower Street, Napier
Folio	02/931
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. L. Jullee

24 March 1902

Henry Hellis Nightingale
Emily Theresa Young

Henry Ellis Nightingale
Emily Theresa Young
💍 1902/2569

Bachelor
Spinster

Baker
General Servant

23
22

Napier
Napier

23 years
2 1/2 years

The Residence of Mr. Latham, White Road, Napier

02/469

24 March 1902

Rev. C. E. Beecroft

No	29
Date of Notice	24 March 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Hellis Nightingale	Emily Theresa Young
BDM Match (96%)	Henry Ellis Nightingale	Emily Theresa Young
	💍 1902/2569
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Baker	General Servant
Age	23	22
Dwelling Place	Napier	Napier
Length of Residence	23 years	2 1/2 years
Marriage Place	The Residence of Mr. Latham, White Road, Napier
Folio	02/469
Consent
Date of Certificate	24 March 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. E. Beecroft

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).